To thrive in nutrient-poor waters, coral reefs must retain and recycle materials efficiently. This review centers microbial processes in facilitating the persistence and stability of coral reefs, specifically the role of these processes in transforming and recycling the dissolved organic matter (DOM) that acts as an invisible currency in reef produ...
Published in Frontiers in Marine Science
Coral species, which function to build the framework structure of reef ecosystems, vary across sheltered to exposed environmental gradients. For centuries, conditions in sheltered environments that impact lagoonal reefs have been altered by local anthropogenic disturbances, while conditions in exposed environments that impact forereefs have largely...
Published in Frontiers in Marine Science
The interplay between ocean circulation and coral metabolism creates highly variable biogeochemical conditions in space and time across tropical coral reefs. Yet, relatively little is known quantitatively about the spatiotemporal structure of these variations. To address this gap, we use the Coupled Ocean Atmosphere Wave and Sediment Transport (COA...
Published in Frontiers in Environmental Science
Structure-from-Motion (SfM) photogrammetry is a time and cost-effective method for high-resolution 3D mapping of cold-water corals (CWC) reefs and deep-water environments. The accurate classification and analysis of marine habitats in 3D provide valuable information for the development of management strategies for large areas at various spatial and...
Published in Frontiers in Marine Science
The Holocene reefs off southeast Florida provide unique insights into the biogeographical and ecological response of western Atlantic coral reefs to past climate change that can be used to evaluate future climate impacts. However, previous studies have focused on millennial-scale change during the stable mid-Holocene, making it difficult to make in...
Published in Frontiers in Conservation Science
Large herbivorous fishes, such as parrotfishes, play a critical role in coral reef ecosystems by limiting the coverage of macroalgae. Yet, in the Colombian Caribbean, parrotfishes are being increasingly targeted for human consumption as the demand for fish increases with tourist numbers. The Colombian Caribbean is dominated by Afro-descendant commu...
Published in Frontiers in Marine Science
The rising trend in sea surface temperature presents a threat to tropical coral reefs, causing increased mass bleaching and mortality events. Brazilian reefs have been characterized as less susceptible to thermal stress, where the assessment of bleaching events based on temperature anomalies often overpredicts its actual occurrences in comparison w...
Published in Frontiers in Marine Science
The U.S. Pacific Islands span a dramatic natural gradient in climate and oceanographic conditions, and benthic community states vary significantly across the region’s coral reefs. Here we leverage a decade of integrated ecosystem monitoring data from American Samoa, the Mariana Archipelago, the main and Northwestern Hawaiian Islands, and the U.S. P...
Published in Frontiers in Climate
Coral reefs are extremely vulnerable to climate change and their recent degradation will continue unless we can instigate strong global climate action with effective regional interventions. Many types of intervention have been proposed and some aspects of their deployment are now being tested. However, their long-term efficacy under climate change ...
Published in Frontiers for Young Minds
You may have heard that coral reefs are overheating and are vanishing from our planet. Although this is certainly the case, the news is not all grim and gloomy! Every so often, surprising experiments show us that there is still hope for corals and much more to learn from them. Working along the Red Sea coast, we were surprised to find that corals l...
